Archive

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke reviews the controversy surrounding Django Unchained. (WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD)

Screw Spike Lee. Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained is a brilliant flick that more accurately depicts the African American experience than any of the 15 movies about black culture Lee’s directed in his lifetime. It’s why the movie took home a Golden Globe award for best screenplay over the weekend and why it was recently nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.Read more…

New York – Aug 23, 2012: Record Industry Executive, Shawn Prez of Bad Boy/Power Moves Inc, announces the inauguration of the Global Spin Awards, November 19, 2012 at the New York Times Center – Manhattan. The GLOBAL SPIN AWARDS (GSAs) has been established to honor DJs from across the globe for their contribution to the music and entertainment industries.

The GSA’s will recognize and honor those who have impacted the DJ culture and beyond. DJ’s provide the avenue and means by which the music industry introduces new music to the masses. It is only fitting that they have their own awards and celebration to acknowledge those who have excelled in their craft. Read more…

Academy Award nominee Viola Davis, star of the controversial film, The Help, went home empty-handed last night after losing the Best Actress Oscar to her acting idol, Meryl Streep—and I can’t say I’m surprised.

As much as I thought Viola deserved the award for her star turn as Abileen Clark, the maid who quietly and defiantly raised her voice to tell the stories of “the help” in racist Mississippi, one need only consider the source of the Oscars, the constant bitching of black folk mad that the Academy Awards was considering awarding a black woman for portraying a maid, and Viola’s own outspoken statements about Hollywood’s race issue to understand why she lost last night.The voting members, according to a Los Angeles Times investigation released last week, is 94 percent white, 77 percent male and 86 percent over the age of 50—and I’m guessing they didn’t want to be bothered with all the backlash that inevitably would have come from outspoken black intellectuals like Melissa Harris-Perry and James McBride, who over the past weeks have gone hard against the Academy and The Help itself for watering down the abject abuse and danger maids faced at the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement, and for, 40 years after Hattie McDaniel won Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal as a maid, considering handing over yet another statuette to a black woman for her portrayal as… a maid. Read more…